Sarah Vafiadis, Period 1, 3/28/22

Literacy & Learning

Custom prompt approved by Mrs. Fusaro.

I find Claudia as a figure in Interview With the Vampire absolutely fascinating. She represents the in-between, an adult woman with the physical form of a child. She has the maturity and desires of an adult, but is bound by her appearance, cursed to forever be treated as a girl. Her desire to be treated as she truly is is repeatedly expressed throughout the novel. I also find Claudia fascinating because she is extremely reflective of Dolores, the main character in Lolita. We have discussed some of the parallels between the two novels in class, but I wanted to delve deeper into them because I believe that they hold extreme relevance in our current society.

Both stories are narrated from the perspective of an adult male who took advantage of a young girl in some form. Louis ripped Claudia from the arms of her deceased mother as a young child, robbing her of the opportunity to develop without any vampiric influence. Humbert steals Lolita away while she is caught in a moment of vulnerability, directly after the death of mother, and continues to manipulate her for several years. The characterization of the girls and relationship with the narrator is another striking similarity. Dolores, nicknamed Lolita by Humbert (also serving as a metaphor for him stripping her ownership of herself away), is characterized as precociously seductive by an unreliable, predatory narrator. Claudia is quite literally a grown woman trapped in the body of a child. Her relationship with Louis is intentionally incredibly uncomfortable to the reader, being described as “Father and Daughter. Lover and Lover.” (Rice 78). In both cases, the narrator plays two contrasting roles, creating a sense of unease in the reader. They view Dolores and Claudia as both equals and children. 

Both stories are intended as warnings. Dolores dies in childbirth, alone, at age 17 and Claudia burns to ash with Madeline. Their manipulation from a young age robs them of the opportunity to develop properly and sets them up for failure from the beginning. Even in light of this, the stories have managed to work their way into popular culture, particularly Lolita. Images of heart-shaped sunglasses and red lipstick populate TikTok hashtags like “coquette” and “nymphet.” The iconic opening line of Lolita, “Light of my life, fire of my loins,” appears in Lana Del Rey’s song Off to the Races. Several of her songs carry references to the novel, including her song Lolita, which is directly named after it. Technically, she isn’t doing anything wrong by referencing a famous piece of literature in her music, but her fanbase is primarily composed of pre-teen and teenage girls who have begun to romanticize the themes in Lolita as a direct result. This trend of romanticizing Lolita appears outside of music as well. The intended meaning of the novel is completely ignored online and Dolores and Humbert’s tale is instead painted as a tragic love story.

There are tangible reasons to be concerned about this. The APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Young Girls was formed in response to public concerns about the sexualization of young girls in popular culture and media. The article linked is a fascinating (albeit very uncomfortable) read. In particular, it addresses the dangerous and lifelong impacts that the sexualization of young girls may have. Trauma theory supports that it can impact the very development of girls, altering their development and harming their ability to form stable relationships throughout their lives. Evidence also suggests that it can significantly decrease self-esteem and lead to struggles in identity formation as well as self-objectification. This puts girls in vulnerable positions where they can easily be exploited by men like Humbert, Louis, or Lestat.

So, how does this tie into Interview with the Vampire? Popular culture has misconstrued the themes surrounding the maturity of young girls present in both Lolita and Interview with the Vampire. This has proven itself to be extremely dangerous in terms of immediate safety and the long-lasting impact that it can leave on young girls. However, when interpreted as intended by the authors, these novels present important warnings on the perception of young girls by society.

Some interesting related articles:

https://ladygeekgirl.wordpress.com/2014/11/01/sexualized-saturdays-subverting-the-lolita-trope-in-interview-with-the-vampire/

https://scholar.utc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1098&context=honors-theses